After six years of playing soccer with his eyes on a literal goal, senior Michael Ernand is turning his sights on a new goal. With college fast approaching, Ernand has decided to turn over a new leaf and achieve his real dream- to become a doctor. 

Captain of the varsity CPHS soccer team, Ernand has been a part of the team all of high school, including this year, when he received the honor of Second Team All District and an Honorable Mention. 

“It felt great to be able to hold that much responsibility as captain and to be there for everyone I’ve grown to know so well,” Ernand said. “When things got hard, I was able to push myself and my teammates to do their absolute best. I’m really going to miss it.”

Ernand will not continue soccer in college, but said he will use leadership skills he learned playing the sport to help him in his future career.

“I want to save lives, I like helping people,” Ernand said. “Whether it’s during a game, or when I was team captain, soccer has shown me that I am someone people can depend on.”

Ernand will be attending Texas A&M in the fall and will major in Biology. Once he graduates, he then plans to go to med school, where he wants to specialize in anesthesia to become an anesthesiologist.  

“As an anesthesiologist, I will be able to be in control of the process of surgery in the operating room,” Ernand said. “The entire process depends on my communication and focus, something I’ve already had practice from being a captain in soccer.”

Besides soccer, Ernand had also taken classes to help introduce him to the medical field, such as AP biology.  

“In AP Biology this year, I realized I wanted to major in biology in college,” Ernand said. “From the labs we did and what Mr. Babich had lectures on, I had a lot of fun and definitely saw myself doing this in the future. It felt right.”

It will take at least 12 years of studying and learning for Ernand to achieve the job he wants. Ernand said at first he was discouraged by this, but realized he couldn’t imagine spending those years doing something else.

“Choosing to end my soccer career was hard,” Ernand said. “I had offers from several colleges. Soccer taught me many life lessons I wouldn’t be able to learn in a book, or from possibly anything else. I’m beyond thankful for it and my team and coaches at CP.”